Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gravel crunched under the wheels of the old beat up Honda, the chipped paint and rusted wheel arches were just another reminder to why he needed this job...

The decaying vehicle was parked with a sequel of the breaks at the top of the driveway, next to an overgrown pond that decorated the centre and accentuated the past luxury of the once grand building that loomed ominously before him. With a slam of the door, the houses new resident approached it's front and cautiously opened the door with a creak before setting their bags aside and looking around, taking it all in. This would be fun...

Thomas Sanders was like any ordinary person. He had an ordinary life with an ordinary job and an ordinary house, except his ordinary house was now this relic of past glory and his ordinary job was being basically a friendly ghost buster and his life couldn't be more far from ordinary and normal. For years he has struggled to land a decent job without being fired for one minor accident or incident, that was the only reason he'd decided to enter this line of work. He had been born cursed with the ability to see the damned and deceased who still roamed the earth, it was horrible. Imagine trying to eat your lovely honey nut Cheerios when suddenly you're met face to face with a victim of a brutal murder, try finishing that cereal. He had tried to ignore it, to wish it away, to pretend it didn't exist, but desperation and the promise of free housing and funding had convinced him to be here stood in a dusty old manor with no idea what he was going to find. See, this place had a history of bad luck, every owner of the house since 1864 had met a terrible fate and it was known to be haunted or demonic. Poor old Thomas had been hired by some paranormal story obsessor to live there and try piece together what made the place so unlucky by talking to any spirits or demons inside.

After assessing the first room, a lounge by the looks of things, he decided to take his things upstairs to one of the many bedrooms to unpack. The stairs creaked loudly as he made his way up, almost as if there were multiple people on them. Thomas quickly spun around on the steps as he saw a shadow shoot past in his peripheral vision, he glanced around in a panic but saw nothing ghostly. It was probably a cobweb... Right?

Thomas finally made it to one of the bedrooms after a lot more creaking. He looked around, surveying it for anything he needed to do to make it more like home and less like an abandoned cabin in the woods.
The wallpaper was peeling and damp from the moisture that seemed to come through a crack in the window, that was fixable, the wooden four post bed in middle of the left wall that was full of woodworm holes and rot however, not so fixable. He'd survive. Thomas effectively duct taped over the crack in the window to create a seal and keep the room warm and dry, or more than it was previously. He then unpacked his bedding and replacied the moth eaten sheets covering the mattress. This was followed by the decision to take down the curtains on the bed frame to prevent any cross contamination to his fresh clean sheets. There was a desk opposite the bed, Thomas deemed it a suitable home for his new laptop and notepads, things he was gifted to track evidence and anything else. The ghost hunting equipment he was also given was tucked away in the back of an old walk-in wardrobe since his gift meant he didn't need this nonsense, behind the clothes he put in there when unpacking the rest of this things.

With everything he had unpacked, and his first entry written onto his computer, Thomas decided to call it a night. It was getting late and he'd driven 16 hours to get there with minimal breaks. He flopped into his new creaky bed and curled up under the covers, trying his best to ignore the haunting sounds the house was making and the strange feeling in his gut.

Treamours and gasps riddled the sleep deprived man as he sat up quickly, his mind still recovering from a rather nasty nightmare. With a rub of his eyes, he managed to catch his breath and calm down somewhat, it didn't last long however. An eerie sound was coming from the halfway, a strange melodic humming of sorts. Maybe he was going crazy but Thomas was being payed to check these things. With a held breath, he slowly approached the door and peeked through, and there, in the hallway, was the transparent image of a man. His features, from what Thomas could currently see, seemed soft yet worn down as if the life was drained from them. He realised soon after thinking this how stupid that was because of course it was drained, he was looking at a ghost, ergo a dead guy. The humming was soothing despite the terror once again rising in his chest, he decided- or more so it was decided for him- to ignore every instinct in him telling him to run. Thomas opened the door further, trying to get a better view of the being before him, forgetting the loud creak that the doors made. The pale figure heard the loud undesired disturbance to it's humming and turned to face him directly. Thomas instantly felt cold as he met the eyes of whatever this was, he seemed to notice a shocked or almost concerned expression on its face before his vision faded to blackness.

His eyes eventually fluttered open, accompanied by a throbbing pain in his head. His vision was slowly unblurring when a blob of blue, presumably a person, was right up in his face. It terrified the man enough to let out a short scream.

"Ah sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to make you pass out like that, it's a defence thing! I'm still getting the hang of it- anyways hello, welcome to Erebus Manor! I never did really liked that name... Anyways who are you? It's been a while since we had any visitors."

Thomas took a minute to process the waffling that had just invaded his ears, he was supposed to be alone here, who the hell was this?
His vision finally unblurred enough for him to see it was the same ghostly figure he saw before he blacked out. He was speechless now, trying to comprehend and readjust to the fact he could see and communicate ghosts. It had been a while since he used his ability and didn't surpress or ignore it. "Ah dear Patton you left him speechless! I must say he seems quite rude, that was a wonderful apology and greeting." Thomas looked confused at that, another voice? He took a minute to actually look past the spirit that was still in his face and noticed 2 others standing behind. He shuffled backwards and sat up properly before actually taking them in. They were both dressed quite nicely, though clearly they were from completely different time periods. For starters, one was wearing a nicely ironed suit and tie while the other was wearing an outfit that looked Shakespearian... It contained a ruffled collar and a long tailed coat with a sash across it, maybe he was royalty? The physical features outside the clothing was varied too; the first ghost had square black glasses and short black hair which was combed back neatly minus a few strands over his face, it looked nice and professional to say the least. Thomas noticed he also leaned heavily on a cane, his left leg seemingly bent out of shape in several ways... It was slightly unnerving. The second ghost had slightly longer, wavier hair in a lovely shade of burnt copper. His physique made him seem fit as a fiddle. Thomas also noticed he had a fair amount of blood stains on his sleeves and chest... "Are you just going to stare at us all day then? Honestly how rude is this guy, I was just joking before!" Thomas tried to shake off whatever was freezing his vocal chords, he didn't want to upset the spirits he was going to have to live with for who knows how long. He tried to answer the question he was originally asked. "I.. uh... My name is Thomas, I didn't mean to come off as rude. I wasn't expecting to meet 3 spirits on my first- wait is it still evening or was I out cold until morning? What time is it?" Thomas had a cautious and confused tone in his voice, it was to be expected. The ghost with the softer features seemed to light up at the reply, literally. "Oh we're sorry for scaring you, my name is Patton if you didn't catch Roman over there saying it before- oh! I mean mysterious prince?" An apologetic glance was paired with that to the Victorian ghost. "What is the point of having a code name if the guy knows my actual one? Oh forget it I'll use it on the next guy." Roman seemed to pout to himself at this ruined opportunity.

Thomas noticed the third ghost being rather quiet, he seemed to be analysing him and it was creepy.
Before he could say anything else though, the spirit known as Patton let out an excited gasp.

"OH MY GOSH GUYS WE CAN GIVE HIM A TOUR!! Come on Thomas let's go, this'll be so fun!"

And with that he was getting a house tour from a dead guy, not exactly what he had in mind.

Chapter Text

Thomas now knew every room in the 3 story house from the kitchen to the attic to the study. His legs were aching from how much he had been standing, not getting much of a chance to sit during the tour as he was quickly ushered from room to room by Patton and Roman. He wasn't quite sure where the other ghost had gotten to, or when it had left... He sat down on the sofa to save his legs from feeling like they were going to fall off.

"And that's everything! So what do you think, Kiddo?" Patton was still grinning wide, it made him look like a cross between an excited child and a proud dad.

"This house sure is big huh, I'm sure I'll find my way around after your tour though so thank you. I hope you don't mind me asking but are you three the only ghosts here?"

Roman glanced at Patton with a grim expression before addressing Thomas, his voice quiet yet firm.

"No, but you definitely don't want to meet the others... Me, Patton, and Logan are the only spirits you ought to concern yourself with. Where did specks get to anyways?"

"Oh come on, Roman, you don't need to be so rude to our new friend. He deserves to know right? Thomas, the thing is... not every spirit here is as friendly as us, they're mean or scary. It's okay though! They usually don't come out of the cellar so you should be all good. Which means that you hopefully won't have to meet-"

Patton's words were cut off, a coughing fit overcoming him. Thomas quickly stood up as Roman quickly rushed to his side and held him, trying to support Patton as best he could.

"Patton, hey, breathe. Just try relax okay? You know we can't say his name... Don't even talk about them, we don't need to, it's okay." The usually so egotistical ones voice was now wavering with concern.

"Is he okay? Should I call someone?! Who would I even call, you guys are ghosts! What's happening?" Thomas was starting to panic, unfamiliar with ghosts having health issues or whatever this was.

Patton gasped for air between coughs, forcing himself to eventually stop. He looked exhausted but he moved out of Romans grip with a silent thank you nod.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it, kiddo. You should go get some ice cream! You've earned it." His voice was hoarse and strained yet he still somehow managed to keep a cheerful tone.

"Patton you need to stop brushing things off, you need recovery time too. Sorry Thomas, it's just whenever one of us tried to mention... His... Name, the symptoms or pain from whatever we died of seems to just come back for a brief moment. It's probably his entanglement to that wretched demon! Ugh this is so unfair on you Patton! I will make him pay one day." Roman was determined to keep that promise, he would slay this evil being and save all his friends!

"Wait demon?! I didn't think I'd have to deal with a genuine demon here, I thought maybe it was an exaggeration... Also how does that make sense? You're dead, you don't really have nerves to-"

"Let me stop you right there before you hit one of our 'non-existant' nerves with what your about to say. The soul feels everything impactful, and I'd say death is pretty impactful wouldn't you Mr know it all?"

"Okay fair enough, you've got me there. So Patron died of a coughing fit?" Thomas took mental note of this, it would need to go in his journal after all.

"What? No! Do you know how disrespectful it is to ask a ghost how they-!"

"Roman, stop. I don't mind..."

"But-"

Patton ignored Roman's protests and turned back to Thomas.

"A coughing fit is one way to put it, I'm not sure of the technical term right now and Logan isn't here to remind me of it so I'll just say I got very sick, kiddo. What's got you so curious anyways?" Patton sat next to Thomas, making sure to keep space between them. It wasn't like he could touch him anyways but he wanted to show he wasn't to be afraid of.

"That's kind of why I'm here...," Thomas sighed deeply as the reality of his job sunk in, "I'm here to figure out what makes this place so bad, and kind of also why and how you all died... I don't mean to be invasive, I didn't realise how upsetting this might be for you guys, I just really need the money right now."

"Oh, money problems. The one upside to being dead, do not get me started on how annoying it was when I still dealt with it." With a roll of his eyes and the crossing of his arms, Roman joined the other two on the sofa.

"Huh? But weren't you like rich or something? You're dressed like a Victorian prince or noble or something." Thomas was clearly confused, not understanding how someone with such high quality looking clothes and style could possibly have had money issues.

"Ha! Oh I wish. You know what they say about assumptions-"

"It makes an as out of sue and me!"

"Yes Patton sure that's it... Anyways, I wasn't Victorian or a noble, goodness no. I was a stage performer, this was merely the outfit I was given for my final performance before, well you know- I was supposed to return it but I uh... Passed... On the night of the last show, I never really got the chance to return it. I doubt they'll care now, when was this... 1976?" Roman gained a confused expression as he thought harder about the night he parted.

Patton seemed to panic at that and quickly thought of a way to change the subject; "So have you ever had a homemade pumpkin pie, Thomas? Hey Roman why don't you go get Logan and see if he remembers a recipe?"

As Roman excitedly left for this new challenge, Thomas looked confused at Patton who sighed with relief.

"Don't get him started on thinking about his death, he doesn't exactly remember it... He panics whenever he realises he doesn't know how... Uh... Anyways, just don't get him started. It's not good for him."

"But wouldn't it be easier if he knew or had time to think about it so he could process it instead of getting confused all the time? Wait do you know how? Are you keeping it from him on purpose? Isn't that wrong?" His mind was running with this new information, spewing it out his mouth at a quick rate.

"Hey hey shhhh he'll hear you, yes I know... But it's not my story to tell, trust me it's better this way. Just promise me you won't talk to him about it yet."

With a serious look from the concerned ghost, Thomas nodded. This really would put a spanner into the works, how was he supposed to figure things out if he couldnt talk or ask about them? He would find a way probably, he always did.

Chapter Text

A cozy warmth floated lazily throughout the house and the kitchen air that was filled with the smell of fresh sweet pumpkin pie. Roman had eventually returned after Thomas's conversation with Patton, carrying Logan bridal style despite the continuous protests. After a bit of convincing from Patton, Logan had begrudgingly listed the recipe for said pie to Thomas, who realised that was actually the first time he'd heard that ghost talk. He wasn't energetic or emotional like the other two, more monotonous, it caused a spike in his interest that's for sure.

"There we go, one fresh pumpkin pie. I hope I followed the recipe well enough, thank you, Logan." Thomas smiled at the other, recieving a semi-satisfied glance in return before their eyes diverted back to anywhere but him.

"Oh my, it smells better than I remember! It's been so long since someone's actually baked in this kitchen, right, Roman?" Patton looked to Roman with a teasing tone for Roman, elbowing him playfully in the side.

"Hey I had a very busy schedule! Also, I'm not the most recent one here to die so blame nerdy over there, right specks?" Roman shook off his offence and shifted it into a half playful half self-justifying tone as he tried to shift the blame onto the quieter of the three ghosts in the room.

Logan sighed at the other two, glancing at a confused Thomas then back to them before muttering quietly.

"I do not see the point in partaking in such activities..."

"Then why did you have a recipe for pumpkin pie memorised?"

Thomas's question was met with irritation as Logan immediately shot a glare his way, well... Thomas thought it was a glare. It was hard to tell, the other man's face barely seemed to move when it came to expressions.

"Now now, Logan, what did we talk about? You don't need to hide your humanity," Patton giggled a little at that, considering he knew the other was just shy, "Thomas was just being curious. Besides I think it's nice that you have it memorised since it's your mother's old recipe-"

Patton's glee was quickly outshined by the amusement given to him and the other spectators as the ghost grew an embarrassed face, it was the strongest most openly shown emotion Thomas had seen so far. He was also honoured to have been taught someones family recipe, he had no idea what he was being told meant so much to Logan! Now he really did hope he followed it correctly.

"Wow, Logan. I'm honoured that you shared such a precious thing with me! I know how much a family recipe can mean to a guy. Were you close with your mother?"

Thomas sat down and put his head in his hand, the way you do when you're invested in a story. He watched as Patton and Roman also smiled and leaned in to listen, in unison no less. Logan shifted uncomfortably before muttering yet again,

"Yes... My mother and I were quite close. She used to teach me how to cook and bake, vital life skills that any mother should teach her child." With that, he glanced at Roman with a slight smirk, showing the other he was joking at the jab.

"Oh that was uncalled for, I know how to cook! I only set my food on fire once!" Romans protests were met with raised eyebrows, he looked over to Thomas, unamused. "I set pasta on fire once and they have never let me live it down! I also don't appreciate the fact you spied on me when I was alive, or the fact you told Logan about this!"

Patton burst out laughing, it was true that he had made Logan aware of Romans miserable cooking skills since Logan was one of the most recent to join their party.

"I did not spy on you Roman, I promise," He couldn't stop laughing between every few words, "oh my goodness you're too funny, I just happened to be in the room when it caught! Anyways, Thomas, you should probably leave that mouth watering pie to cool down a little. Say, it's lovely outside! Why don't you explore the gardens for a bit, get some fresh air?"

"That's a nice idea, thank you, Patton. I think I'll do just that."

And with that, Thomas walked out the kitchen to the front door and left to the gardens Patton had mentioned.

Thomas had never imagined them to be so beautiful, even if they were extremely overgrown. Hedges of all different sizes lined the paths, unkept yet vibrant flower beds were scattered here and there too. The air was clear, the smell of fern and pine wafting through.

He sat himself down on a weathered bench surrounded by flowers, admiring the view of the house. His ears were filled with the sounds of birds singing, leaves rustling in the wind, and... Footsteps...
Thomas immediately looked around.
He was supposed to be alone here, who's footsteps could that be? They were getting closer. Next to him? No... Behind him? He couldn't tell anymore. There wasn't anyone appearing anywhere in his oeriferal vision, it had to be behind him.
With a moments hesitation, he shot up and spun around, immediately addressing the figure that appeared.

"WHO ARE... you?"

The being Thomas was met with had given him the impression of a deer in headlights. They seemed absolutely terrified so Thomas tried to make himself seem less intimidating. He made note of their appearance: a short stature (about 5'5 maybe?), fairly skinny like how he'd imagine a Victorian orphan, messy black hair that partially covered their face, worn down shoes, scruffy trousers, and a black hoodie with what looked like a messy repair job since it had purple plaid patches scattered around it with messy stitching. Was this another ghost? Probably, no living person could be that pale. He hadn't been told of any that existed outside though.

"Hello, my names Thomas. Are you a ghost?"

The being immediately vanished into thin air. Thomas looked around confused, wondering where they could go so suddenly. He hadn't seen any of the others vanish like that, in fact he had never seen a ghost vanish that quickly in his life. It always took at least a few seconds, not the blink of an eye.

"Hey wait! I'm not here to hurt you or anything, I don't even know if that's possible! Please come back, I just want to talk."

With bated breath, he waited as patiently as he could for this new person to reappear, glancing around every now and again. About 5 minutes passed before a quiet, slightly hoarse voice was heard. Thomas nearly jumped out his skin but immediately looked in its direction to see the small pale creature had reappeared on the bench next to where he was now standing, sitting on their feet in a crouch position.

"Hey..."

Chapter Text

Thomas thought for a moment before sitting carefully on the bench next to this new ghost, making sure not to get too close. He took note of how they shifted to face him but kept themselves at an angle so they'd be able to escape if necessary.

"Hi, I know I already said this but I'm Thomas, the new resident of this house. Would it be okay if you told me who you are?" He kept his voice soft, trying not to scare the other who was still clearly on edge.

The other kept their eyes on Thomas, seeming to be trying to intimidate him by glaring him down. It reminded Thomas of a stray cat. He waited for a few minutes before ending the silence himself.

"I'm assuming you vanishing earlier was some cool ability you have, invisibility right? That's really cool! Do all ghosts have abilities?"

Thomas waited again but still, no reply.

"You're not really a talker huh? I don't bite, you know. You seem a little damp, did you fall into a puddle or something? Can ghosts get wet?"

This seemed to spark a reaction out the other, a defensive one, a loud one.

"That's none of your business!!"

The other quickly went to scramble away but Thomas followed, eager to find out something.

"Wait! Can I at least have something to call you?"

"Your worst nightmare!"

The ghost spin around and hissed at Thomas, they really were like a stray cat. That was alright though, Thomas had his experience with strays.

"Okay then, Nightmare it is. I'm not hearing any objections so I will call you that until I get your actual name." Thomas stated this with a grin, it wasn't cocky or mocking, it was just a regular smile.

"That's not what I... ugh..." The nightmare accepted their fate and dropped their shoulders, "Look, I know you guys want to chase me off but I am not going anywhere. I lived here, I died here, I'll stay here thank you."

"Wait what? Why would I want you to leave? You have as much right to be here as any other ghost, plus I don't think you can leave can you?"

Thomas' attempt to comfort the other was seemingly met with confusion, they stood for a moment opening and closing their mouths like a fish, trying to figure out what words to use.

"Well no, I can't go past the properly line... But it doesn't mean you won't try, that Victorian asshole from inside keeps trying to chase me off with a fake sword he keeps pulling out from I don't even know where!"

Nightmare was clearly stressed, waving their arms about and getting worked up. Thomas watched this for a minute before slowly reaching out and hovering his hand over the ghosts shoulders, he was trying to comfort them as best he could without being physically able to touch them. The ghost radiated ice cold onto his hand but he kept it there.

"I'm going to make sure Roman doesn't do that again, or I'll try to at least. You don't need to worry okay? Oh hey I have an idea! Why don't you come inside and I'll start the fire, I saw one in the living room. You can get nice and warm if that's possible for you? Come on!"

Thomas grinned and headed in the direction of the house, he couldn't see the other following but he could hear the hesitant footsteps slightly out of time with his own.

When he got to the house he was immediately greeted by the other ghosts, minus Logan who was sitting on the other side of the room reading a book somehow, with Patton being the most enthusiastic to see him back.

"Thomas, welcome back! So how did you find them? They're so beautiful aren't they? It's my favourite place in the whole grounds!"

"Yea it was pretty good, thank you for recommending it to me! I'm gonna light the fire though just to uh warm up a bit."

Roman looked at Thomas then out the window, confused. It was bright and sunny, how could he be cold? Then Roman seemed to shift, a look in his eyes the same as if a villain just stepped into the hero's base with such audacity. He summoned the sword that Nightmare had been talking about before.

"Where are you this time, huh? Hiding again are we? Leave Thomas alone you leech!"

Thomas jumped back out of reflex as Roman waved it around, his brain not wanting him to get hit by the surprisingly sharp looking sword.

"Roman! Calm down it's okay! Wait is that blood in your-"

"Okay Roman let's put the sword away. There's no need to jump to that conclusion, you know this house is cold to the living."

Patton quickly cut Thomas off and brought the wannabe-victorian's attention off what Thomas had just said. Thomas raised an eyebrow at that but decided not to address it, he knew Patton just wanted to keep Roman safe, that's what he'd said...

He went over to the fire and added some wood and firestarter, dry leaves and sawdust. It took him a minute to find the matchbox but when he did he immediately used it to light the fire and close the door, letting the head travel more safely through the fan at the top. Immediately he felt that cold presence the nightmare gave off and smiled slightly, knowing they had followed and were now sat by the fire.

Thomas grabbed some blankets he found in a cupboard Patton directed him to and lay them safely in front of the fire like a cozy floor bed. He sat next to the cold presence while the other two and even Logan, still reading, came and sat on the other side.